Foreign Minister Emma Bonino received Qatar’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiya, who is visiting Rome as part of a tour of European capitals.
Developments in the Egyptian crisis were the subject of an in-depth exchange of views in their discussion at the Farnesinatoday, 22 August 2013. Minister Bonino also commented on the conclusions of the Extraordinary Council of EU Foreign Affairs which took place in Brussels on 21 August. She underscored the need for the international community to redouble its efforts to bring all of Egypt’s political forces to a truce, with the cessation of all violence and an end to the state of emergency.
Deploring last week’s violent repression, Minister Bonino reiterated her strong concern over the terrorist, religious and sectarian elements of the tensions. She also stressed reiterated the need to convince Egypt’s political parties to make every effort to create the conditions for a resumption of the political dialogue. The decisions taken by the EU foreign ministers on suspending military supplies and reviewing Europe’s policy on cooperation with Egypt were taken with this aim in mind.
Minister Bonino also underscored that Qatar can continue to play an important role, with the main regional and international players, in exerting pressure on the parties involved to help find a negotiated and inclusive way out of the crisis.
Minister Al Attiya and Minister Bonino also discussed other important regional dossiers, with the focus on developments in Syria, Libya and Iran.
As regards Syria, and especially the possible use of chemical weapons in eastern Damascus, Minister Bonino stressed the need for the Syrian authorities to give the United Nations inspectors currently in the country immediate access to the neighbourhood concerned. Minister Al Attiya noted the importance of using UN and multilateral channels to address the Syrian crisis.
Ministers Bonino and Al Attiya also agreed on the excellent state of bilateral relations between Italy and Qatar, and on their shared intention to further strengthen the relationship.
